The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has firmly ruled out any withdrawal of Government support for international refugee protection laws.
Mr O'Donoghue was responding to a call this week by the Immigration Control Platform which wants the Government to opt out of the 1951 United Nations Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
The group, led by Ms Aine Ni Chonaill, has started a postcard campaign to lobby the Government to set up an alternative to the system for accepting refugees in limited numbers.
However, Mr O'Donoghue said last night that the Government "has never contemplated, or never will contemplate" opting out of the convention.
"The general policy position regarding asylum and immigration matters is that this Government is committed to providing protection to refugees and the application of fair procedures in accordance with law to all immigrants both legal and illegal," he said.
"Refugees will always be given protection in Ireland in accordance with our international obligations. All applications for refugee status are decided strictly in accordance with the relevant legislation and guidelines laid down by the UNHCR."
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees defended the "sacrosanct" status of the convention which 139 states have signed. Under it, refugees fleeing persecution are entitled to the protection of the state to which they have fled.
If the host state agrees that an asylum-seeker is fleeing persecution on grounds including race, religion or nationality, he or she will be granted refugee status.
This entitles the person to live and work permanently in Ireland with the same rights as an Irish citizen. If refused refugee status, a person can be deported. Under the current system, no limits can be put on the number of asylumseekers the State allows to enter.
Ms Luyndall Sachs from the London office of the UNHCR said opting out of the convention would not stop people coming to Ireland. " People are moving for a variety of reasons, and all that will happen is that people will have a well-founded fear of persecution may not be able to get safety in Ireland", she said.
Last year 10,938 people claimed asylum, an increase of 3,000 on the previous year and more than twice the total in 1998.